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SJR State Accreditation

What is Accreditation?

Accreditation is a review process in which an independent organization, called an accrediting agency, evaluates a college or academic program to ensure it meets established quality standards. These standards typically cover areas like leadership, faculty, resources, and facilities.


Why Accreditation is Important

Accreditation ensures that colleges and universities meet established quality standards. Beyond that, accreditation has two other important implications for students: federal financial aid and credit transfers.

For a student to receive federal financial aid from the U.S. Department of Education, the institution in which the student is seeking a post-secondary degree must be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency. Additionally, if a student seeks to transfer earned credits from one institution to another, most higher learning institutions only accept credits from an accredited institution.


Types of Accreditations

Institutional Accreditation

  • Institutional Accreditors are accrediting agencies who evaluate the college as a whole institution and assure that the institution is in alignment with broad organizational quality standards.

Programmatic Accreditation

  • Programmatic accreditors, also referred to as specialized or professional accreditors, are accrediting agencies that evaluate specific programs within an institution rather than the institution as a whole. These accreditors ensure that individual programs meet the quality standards and licensing requirements set by the profession.
  • Programmatic accreditation is especially important for students pursuing careers that require licensure or certification. In many cases, licensing boards will not allow a student to sit for a licensure or certification exam if their program was not programmatically accredited.

SJR State Accreditation

Institutional Accreditation

St. Johns River State College is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate and baccalaureate degrees. St. Johns River State College also may offer credentials such as certificates and diplomas at approved degree levels. Questions about the accreditation of St. Johns River State College may be directed in writing to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, by calling (404) 679-4500, or by using information available on SACSCOC's website (www.sacscoc.org).

Programmatic Accreditation

  • Diagnostic Medical Sonography Technology (A.S.): Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) upon the recommendation of the Joint Review Committee on Education in Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JRC-DMS)
  • Health Information Management (A.S.): Commission on Accreditation for Health Informatics and Information Management Education (CAHIIM)
  • Medical Assisting (C.C.): Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) upon the recommendation of the Medical Assisting Education Review Board (MAERB)
  • Nursing (A.S.): Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
  • Nursing (B.S.): Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
  • Paramedic (C.C.C.): Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) upon the recommendation of the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for the Emergency Medical Services Professions (CoAEMSP)
  • Radiologic Technology (A.S.): Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology (JRCERT)
  • Respiratory Care (A.S.): Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC)
  • Visual Art (A.S.): National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD)

SJR State programs with State Authorization

Some programs are state authorized rather than programmatically accredited. State authorization is a designation granted by the state, indicating the program has met the state's standards for quality and operation.